COVID-19: Gov’t to decide on Lockdown extension this week

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that government will this week decide whether or not to extend the lockdown imposed on Accra and Kumasi to slow the spread of the COVID-19.

He said the decision will be based mainly on the results of the over 19,000 tests being conducted due to the enhanced contact tracing exercise.

“We are, thus about to enter a critical phase of our fight in the coming week, as the Ghana Health Service is due to receive the results of some 15,385 out of 19,276 persons who have been reached through contact tracing. It is the results of these tests that will determine our future course of action. Government’s policy and measures will be driven by the science in this matter,” the President noted.

Addressing the nation on Sunday, April 5th, the President also announced a raft of measures put in place by the government to ease the financial impact of the deadly COVID-19 on citizens especially frontline workers.

Ghana has so far recorded 214 cases of the deadly virus with five deaths and three full recoveries. 49 people have been discharged and are under home care management.

Among the measures, the President stated that ECG and GWCL have been directed to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity and water in these trying times.

More PPEs, the President said are being procured and Health Minister will ensure all health workers nationwide get enough PPEs for their work. 3,600,000 face masks will also be manufactured locally while an Insurance sum of Ghc350,000 has been set aside for all health workers.

Contact tracers will also receive an allowance of Ghc150 daily while, health workers will not pay taxes on their emoluments for the next 3 months.

They will receive a 50% allowance on their basic salary for the next 3 months – April, May, June.